Method of producing fiber board



M. CHEW.

METHOD OF PRODUCING FIBER BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23, I920.

mzam r Patented July 18,1922.

INVENTOR MAN LEY CHEW.

. meshes.

manner straw. or MIDLAND, on'ramofcanara.

trainer or raonocrne' arena scant.

To all whom it may concern: I

' Be it known that I, MANLEY CHEW, of the town of Midland, in the county of Simcoe,

class of fiber board vmade from -.the chip Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Methods of Producing Fiber Board, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to certaln new and useful improvements in the method of pro ducing fiber board and particularly that waste of saw mills.

One object of my invention is to produce a board of this class which will be strong, stiff, not liable to check or wlarp nor .be effected by dampness or water. 'A further object is to make the board durable, and to a large extent fire proof and capable of being util zed as a substitute for plaster ahdthe like in the interior finishing of a house. My method consists in subjecting the chip waste to moisture and heat, orshortly steam, to .cook the same, floating this waste and beating it in such floated conditionto a fibrous, watery, pulpy mass, with the fibers separated but unbroken, and practically shredded, then agitating the mass to keep it in a-proper consistency and carrying it in such consistency in a stream 'over obstructions whereby the mass is freed from for- 'eign matter, and then precipitating or projecting the pulp in a flat filmy state into the press where the water is expressed and the fiber board is finally formed, then drying and waterproofing the board. To carry out my method I employ the following apparatus and method which I shall now describe.

The drawing represents carrying out my method.

1 is a container of any convenient size having steam pipes 2 contained in the bottom thereof. This container 1 is filled with the apparatus for -chip waste by a suitable conveyer such as is frequently used in saw mills, then water is introduced into the waste, and also preferably a powdered talc, soda ash or ground asbestos. ,The heat applied to the steam pipes serves to convert the water into steam,

which permeates the mass of waste.

The mass of waste'is cooked from ten. to

twenty-four hours depending upon the na- Specification of Letters l'atent.

Patented July 11%, 1922.

I it pliable and workable. Water is then introduced into the mass and it is then fed by any suitable means to a hopper, 3 whence 1t .15 conveyed by an endless chain of buckets 4 to a hopper 5 at the top of a heater 6, or

series of heaters. The beater fuse is the Clafiin beater, although ers may be employed.

The water introduced into'the mass more or Less floats the waste and converts it into arou'gh pulplike watery condition. In theother forms of beatheaters the mass is so treated that the fibers are separated into very fine strands, shredded 1 yet pulplike in form. i

From the. beater 6 the pulp is passed by a spout 7'to a spout 8 which conveys it into the cylindricalscreening machine 9, and into the cylindrical mesh screen 10 thereof. The pulp which passes through the. screen lOois conveyed by means of a pipe 11 to a' receptacle 12 The .pulp which does not pass through the screen 10, that is, the tailings, pass t rough the pipe 13 to a ball or roller null 14 where it is rendered sufliciently fine to befed by the pipe 15 tothe'feed pipe 11. Instead, of the beater 6, a ball or roller mill may be advantageously substituted.

' At this point I introduce a suitable hair or fiber, animal, vegetable or mineral, such as horse hair, shredded flax, hemp or jute or asbestos. 16 is a cylindrical woven wire screen against whichv the pulp inthe receptacle 12 impinges and 17 is a felt roll by which the pulp is rolled and carried off from the cylindrical screen in the form of long strips of fine shredded'pulp. Water is again introduced by the pipes 18 and 19to cause a freeflow of the pulp on to and down the chute 20 into the vat 21.

' From the vat 21 a pipe 22 extends to the pump 23 whereby the pulp is elevated and pumped by a pipe 24 into the agitating tank 25 which contains a series of rotary agitators -26 of any desired form such as shown in the drawing with paddles 27. l

By means of the rotary agitators the pulp is kept at a proper and uniform consistency in the agitating tank or vat 25. From the agitating tank the pulp is carried by means of a pipe 27 pump 28, and pipe 29 into a boxlike receptacle 30 having an intermediate bottom 30. The pulp passes in a stream, .in the course indicated by arrow, being interrupted in its flow by slats 31 on the intermediate bottom and slats 32 on the actual as i bottom. These slats form obstructions so as to catch any heavy foreign matter such as metal.

After the stream passes over the slats the pul y' mass passes along and is precipitated or projected along down a flat chute of substantially a width corresponding to the length of the fiber board. The pulp is fed at such a speed as will induce the filmy mass of pulp to feed over the entlre width of the chute in its passage to the press 33 which is preferably a hydraulic one.

lnthe press the water is expressed from clpitating this mass 1nto a tank, then carrythe pulp, and is formed up into a solid board.

From the press the boards into kilns and dried.

After being thoroughl treated with a waterproo position. r

I preferably treat the pulp in its passage through'the apparatus with a suitable mineral binder. This may consist of powdered talc or a combination of powdered talc and ground asbestos or soda ash.

In describing my method I desire it to be understood, however, that I do not wish to limit myself to the exact steps described as various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

' What I claim as my invention is:

1. The method of manufacturing. fiber board from chip waste consisting of steam cooking the waste, then introducing water into the mass, then beating the water permeated mass, then screening it, then agitating it and then feeding the mass now reduced to pulp in a fiat stream to the press, then expressing the water therefrom and pressing the pulp into board form.

2. The method of manufacturing fiber board from chip waste consisting of steam cooking the waste, then introducing water and a mineral binder into the mass, then are stacked dried they are g liquid or comneaepee beating the water permeated mass, then screening it, then agitating it and then feeding the mass now reduced. to pulp in a flat stream to the press, then expressing the water therefrom and pressing the pulp into board form.

3. The method of manufacturing board from chip waste consisting of steam cooking the waste, then introducing water into the mass, then beating the water permeated mass, then'screening it, then rolling the fibrous mass so that the fibers are more or less drawn out longitudinally, then preing it forward and agitating it and then feeding the mass now reduced to pulp in a fiat stream to the press, then expressing the water therefrom and pressing the pulp into board form.

4. The methodv of manufacturing fiber board from chip waste consisting of steam cooking the waste, then introducing water into the mass, then beating the water permeated mass, then screening it, then introducing a hair like binder, then rolling the fibrous mass so that the fibers are more or less drawn out longitudinally, then precipitating this mass into a tank, then carrying it forward-and agitating it and then feeding the mass now reduced topulp in a flat stream to the press, then expressing the Water therefrom and pressingthe pulp into board form. 1

5 The method of manufacturing fiber board from chip waste consisting of steam cooking the waste, then introducing water into the mass, then beating the water permeated mass, 'then screening it, then agitating it and then feeding the mass now reduced to pulp in a flat obstructed stream to the press, then expressing the water herefrom and pressing the pulp into board orm.

MANLEY oHEw. 

